blog-maryBlog - Joyful Curmudgeon - Blog
A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 


What Would Jesus Think of Present-Day Christians? (Part 2) – 12 July 2006
By Mary T. Hoffman

What about all the church functions and fund-raisers that serve meat and dairy products from animals horrifically brutalized? Isn’t it interesting that these professing Christians, who believe that the Holy Spirit informs believers, ask God’s blessing over the products of unspeakable cruelty? One would expect at least some of these believers to have matured enough in their faith to listen to the Holy Spirit’s promptings about ending their financial support of cruelty. Have they not read Proverbs 12:10?

10 A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal,
But the compassion of the wicked is cruel.

Are these people saying that they are wicked?

And what about the church-sponsored hunting and fishing parties where children are indoctrinated and hardened into the killer-mindset traditions? (A hardening of the heart.) The answer is found in Matthew 18:5-7:

5 "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;

6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.

7 "Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!

~ New American Standard Bible

We, as Christians, need to wake up to the fact that the majority of Christianity has strayed from the loving, compassionate, and peace-making teachings of Jesus Christ. For some reason, most Christians seem to want to find excuses for following the ways of the world, with all the hardness of heart, violence, and injustice. Christians are to be in the world but not of the world. They are not to participate in the dark deeds of the world. John 8:12 is one of several passages that refer to spiritual light and spiritual darkness:

12 Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life."

~ New American Standard Bible

We need to go back to the basics of Jesus’ teachings. We are to love God with every part of our being. This kind of unconditional love requires us to deeply respect and honor the whole of God’s “very good” (Genesis 1:31) creation. This includes our fellow human beings, the other animals, and the environment in which we all live.

Tomorrow’s Blog: What Would Jesus Think of Present-Day Christians? – Christian living as reflected in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

Go on to: What Would Jesus Think of Present-Day Christians? (Conclusion) – 13 July 2006
Return to: What Would Jesus Think of Present-Day Christians? – 11 July 2006
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